I might try taking out the front dshaft afternoon to try and isolate a vibration....

I have a haynes book, and it says to "tape the bearing caps to the spider to prevent the caps from falling off". Are the bearing caps on the diff end or the tcase end of the shaft? Any pictures would be much appreciated.

 

the caps are on the u joints on both ends of the driveshaft once you unbolt it make sure you dont let the caps fall off the u joint theres a bunch of needle bearings inside each one so once you get the driveshaft out without leting the caps fall off then use tape around all the caps so they dont fall off while youre moving it around
if you scroll down to the bottom of the u joint write up you will see the last pic is an example
http://www.norcal4x4forum.com/forums...read.php?t=903

 

Just grab the driveshaft and try to move it around. I was getting vibes in my rig and it turned out to be bad U-joints (very noticable when I grabed the driveshaft and moved it around).

 

I already checked. My front Dshaft is very loose, so I'm taking it out to make sure that's the problem.

and thanks nismo5.

 

Ok so the taping needs to be done on the driveshaft itself once it's removed?

 

How easily do they fall off? I mean, are they gonna fall off during removal?

 

One more ?: I can drive around with it off, right?

 

it can fall off. but most likely wont. the rust and clamping force will make it most likely a little stuck. just tap the shaft with a hammer while pulling or pry it off with a screw driver/prybar. yes you can drive in 2wd with it off, I've had mine off for 4 months now.

 

Thanks. And I was asking about the bearing caps falling off of the shaft.

 

Since you are new at it, just count on a bearing cap coming of and losing the needles. You will be out 15 bucks for a new joint but will now know exactly what the haynes manual means when it says to tape the caps...

 

Cool beans. Thanks.

hey, i writed this with one of them new fangled ipod things

 

If your front drive shaft u-joints are already bad I wouldn't worry about the caps falling off, they will have to be replaced anyway if you plan on re-installing it in the future.

 

very good point heres just one of the write ups i found there are tons if you google it its not really that hard to rebuild
http://www.mallcrawlin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7478
or might be easier and or cheaper to just find one at your local junk yard that still feels tight all depends on time and budget

good luck

 

after more looking I decided that it is indeed the front dshaft ujoint, so you make a good point, lurk. and thanks for the write up, nismo.